Latest news with #emotionalIntelligence
Entrepreneur
2 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
What Sets Ultra-Successful Entrepreneurs Apart From the Rest
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. It's a natural instinct for woodpeckers to drill holes in trees primarily to search for food, create nesting cavities and communicate with others through drumming. Just like our feathered woodland friend, having that innate ability to peck away often against the odds is an ability that sets billionaires apart from regular entrepreneurs — and of course being okay with taking risks. The "Inner Woodpecker" is like having a constant drive to achieve and never being satisfied with a one-off success. It's that restless feeling that keeps you going, combined with emotional intelligence. The latter is super important for motivating others and handling complex relationships in business. It's not just about being smart; it's about understanding and managing your own and other people's emotions. Like the woodpecker again, the overall endeavor is the development of a persuasive communication capability. Related: 5 Ways to Master the Persistence That Makes a Great Entrepreneur Criteria for a successful entrepreneur I used to believe that anyone could gear themselves to become a successful entrepreneur who could manage large projects, even on a global scale. I later realized this is not the case. Those who possess the "Inner Woodpecker" have the distinct advantage of being consistent in their actions, having a persistent drive to achieve goals and exuding a constant restlessness where each success is merely a step toward the next. Now, it may emerge early or late, influenced by people, circumstances or even arise spontaneously — but without it, sustained success is impossible. I also used to think that a high IQ was the primary distinguishing feature of successful people. Now, I would rank it third or fourth. You see, there are individuals with average analytical intelligence who achieve quite remarkable results. IQ is a characteristic that can be, well, hired. Charisma, communication skills and leadership qualities — these things that define emotional intelligence — can't be easily brought or even bought in. It has to exist in the first place. Large-scale projects necessarily involve a host of colleagues, and often, such individuals are complex beings, frequently demanding, and with their own interests and agendas. How good they are depends on just how motivated they are. Now, creating this motivation is a large part of one's emotional intelligence. Harness that emotional power If things are structured in such a way that those involved feel content and upbeat, each in their own unique way, then valuable results will follow. In life in general, emotions are the most powerful drivers. They make humanity what it is. There are those naturally gifted with emotional intelligence, while others have only the potential. If that potential exists, it can be developed, though to what extent depends on the person — which is why coaching is the most dependable and perhaps the only effective way to achieve it. And the best way to develop real skills is to learn them in real time, ideally with a guru-come-mentor. So, what else makes successful entrepreneurs? Well, fortune favors those who can also combine analytical intelligence with creativity, as well as ingenuity and the ability to think outside of the box to solve matters and produce ideas. There is a common thread that runs through the career successes of many billionaires in that they all did well-known things, just much better than their competitors. In fact, very few invented something that was fundamentally new. Related: Why Emotional Intelligence Is Crucial for Success (Infographic) Taking risks You can't be an entrepreneur without a tolerance for risk. Business decisions involve taking risks, often many times a day. Playing it too safe can hold you back from big breakthroughs. If you're not a risk taker in business, instead always hedging against possible loss, you won't achieve anything remarkable. Risk drives evolution. Business, as in sport, the sciences, creative fields and exploration, is one big contest with nature, fate, oneself and the revolving world around you. So, remember, there's no competition without the risk of losing. It's therefore not surprising that running a business is often compared to gambling, the odds often being completely unpredictable. Stay patient and always keep your cool Patience is crucial in emotional intelligence — that ability to build relationships step by step and guide your way through complex processes. Be prepared to wait. Getting worked up about things you can't avoid or change gets you nowhere and only serves to drain your energy. If you are agitated, you see the world in a distorted way and when in that state, it becomes nearly impossible to fight effectively, let alone win. It's the same with handling losses. Losses are inevitable in business. It might be a small market fluctuation, a turn of weak management or maybe extra pressure from competitors and wham — suddenly you're facing possible bankruptcy, and this can happen regardless of your knowledge or skills. On the other hand, there are those who gain great riches by sheer luck but then fail to keep it because they don't have the wherewithal to manage such situations. Money, wealth and runaway success invariably impact human nature. Having large sums of money increases psychological pressure and requires enormous willpower, which leads to more complex decision-making. Related: How to Harness the Power of Patience to Be a Better Leader Remember, sometimes you have to go down to come up again. There are valuable lessons to be learned from hitting rock bottom. That is, if you have a reasonable level of emotional and analytical intelligence and if that "Inner Woodpecker" in you keeps pounding away. Personally, I never get upset over losses. I dismiss it as counterproductive and, instead, I analyze what went wrong, put the mental switch in the "on" position and move ahead. I even manage to source energy from failures, becoming angry at myself, and immediately start fighting for revanche.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Stop Avoiding Conflict: How Top Leaders Stay Cool Under Pressure
Let's be real - if you work with people, there will inevitably be a clash. Perhaps it's the co-worker who talks over you, the teammate who 'forgets' deadlines, or the passive-aggressive team chat message. You can mediate all you want, but conflict is part of the reality of the workplace, and you can't avoid it. The trick? Learn how to manage it like a pro - not a pushover, not a tyrant, but a leader who knows how to turn tension into traction Welcome to the skill nobody teaches you in business school: workplace conflict resolution. Most people don't love conflict. Why? It's awkward, uncomfortable and, at times, exhausting. It's not just about people's feelings - it can stall productivity and harm team morale and even your credibility as a leader. Remember you're not their friend - you're the boss and the hard stuff lands on you. As Amy Gallo suggests in Harvard Business Review, avoiding workplace conflicts doesn't make them disappear; instead, they can intensify over time, leading to more significant problems. So, go to the source instead of ghosting your coworker or venting to Rebecca from the administration. Not with drama - but to seek clarity. Start with this: 'Can we talk about something that's been on my mind?' Calm, clear, and direct. You're not there to win — you're there to figure it out. Shouting matches won't solve a thing. Neither will a snarky 'per my last email.' What works? Emotional intelligence - every time. According to TalentSmart, nine out of ten top performers score high in EQ, and this makes a lot of sense. That's because innovative leaders don't react—they respond. They ask questions, listen, and manage their own emotions before tackling someone else's. In 'How to Establish Psychological Safety at Work,' check out why leaders must create space where people can disagree without fear. That's how trust is built. Want people to show up with ideas and accountability? Then, model respectful conflict. Don't shut people down — bring them in. Gossip is lazy leadership. It breeds toxicity, damages culture, and makes you look weak. If someone's frustrating you, say it to them — not around them. Here's what conflict pros do: Let's talk prevention. If your team constantly misfires, there's probably a trust issue underneath. That's where psychological safety comes in. Innovative leaders normalize feedback, encourage honest dialogue, and reward risk-taking. When people feel safe, they don't blow up — they speak up. Want less conflict? Make it okay to talk about hard things before they explode. Don't be the 'let's wait and see' person because it will bite you in the long run - and nobody respects it. Handle Conflict Like a Leader ✔ Don't avoid it — address it head-on. ✔ Lead with curiosity, not criticism. ✔ Use emotional intelligence — not emotion. ✔ Create psychological safety so issues don't fester. ✔ Focus on solving the issue, not winning the fight. You don't need to be everyone's friend. But if you want to lead, you'd better know how to navigate conflict with clarity, courage, and maturity. That's not soft — that's strategy.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Paul Mitchell's Newcastle exit leaves Eddie Howe in position of maximum strength
The table was all wrong. In retrospect it offered the first clue that lack of emotional intelligence would prove central to Paul Mitchell's undoing at Newcastle. It was early last September when reporters were invited to St James' Park to meet the club's then newish sporting director. As Mitchell strode into the windowless Sir Bobby Robson suite and took his seat at the head of a very long rectangular table he neglected to notice that journalists at the opposite end were isolated from the conversation. Sure enough, he was questioned so intensely by those clustered around him that others struggled to get a word in edgeways. While it took me more than an hour of a 90-minute briefing to seize a fleeting opportunity to ask a question, an adjacently seated colleague never managed to say a single word to Dan Ashworth's successor. Mitchell appeared oblivious. Supporters might think: 'So what?' But it appeared indicative of a wider carelessness that helps to explain why the sporting director will be leaving Newcastle by 'mutual consent' this month. The previous year Ashworth had conducted a similar exercise at the training ground. On walking into the media room the then soon-to-be Manchester United‑bound sporting director surveyed rows of formal seating, shook his head and began dragging chairs into a more inclusive circle. That way everyone felt equal and could easily participate. It was a common‑sense move that won hearts and minds. Emotional intelligence is an unquantifiable yet imperative component in football's high-stakes world of fragile egos and, sometimes, almost paranoid insecurity. Mitchell shortage of soft skills provoked a needless civil, and turf, war with Eddie Howe last autumn. If failing to recognise the need for circular seating represented a mistake, his repeated reiteration that Newcastle's ostensibly successful transfer policy was 'not fit for purpose' proved incendiary. Given the manager demands a final say on signings and his nephew, Andy Howe, is a key figure in the recruitment department, it seemed arrogant macho posturing. Sadly this humility bypass would obscure the considerable good Mitchell has done on Tyneside, most notably appointing the injury-prevention specialist James Bunce. It might have been different had Amanda Staveley and her husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, still been around as directors and minority owners to smooth the sporting director's rough edges. Staveley is all about deal-making facilitated by emollient human connectivity. During the two and a half years she and Ghodoussi ran Newcastle on behalf of the majority owner, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, a sense of harmony prevailed. Yet since the couple were forced out last summer – apparently for assorted reasons, including a confusing overlap with the role of the chief executive, Darren Eales – the club has seemed colder and more corporate. Stress levels have risen. It did not help that Ashworth – admired by Howe for his humility and 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' approach that, paradoxically, would preface his swift Old Trafford downfall – had been persuaded the Mancunian grass was greener. Or that Eales, who had been diagnosed with blood cancer, announced he would depart once a successor was identified. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion With that moment drawing close, the chief executive and Mitchell, old friends from their Tottenham days, leave at a juncture when Howe operates from a position of maximum strength. After winning the Carabao Cup and securing a second Champions League qualification in three years, his fiercely protected power base looks bombproof. The manager's undeniable, if occasionally high‑maintenance, brilliance camouflages considerable behind‑the‑scenes turmoil at a club where the boardroom churn is hardly conducive to stability. While the available funds of about £100m need to be spent urgently yet intelligently on restocking Howe's slender squad, Newcastle's second‑tier women's team have just released 12 players and confront a complicated crossroads. PIF could do worse than replace Mitchell internally. The former Sunderland and Hibernian manager Jack Ross holds an MA in economics, has written two children's books and is head of Newcastle's strategic technical football partnerships. The former executive with the Scottish players' union and the global FifPro is smart, nuanced and empathetic; he champions women's football and, unlike his bosses, is an excellent communicator. Counterproductively, communication between the media and the Saudis is nonexistent. Yasir al‑Rumayyan, Newcastle's chair, has never spoken to reporters, let alone explained the ownership strategy or why potential moves to a new stadium and/or training ground remain pending. That might seem irrelevant to fans. Yet if, as is widely believed, purchasing the club was really all part of a sportswashing exercise intended to clean up the kingdom's blood-stained image while bolstering its embryonic tourism industry, it is also distinctly odd. Perhaps there is an acceptance that Saudi Arabia's human rights record is so atrocious that awkward questions are best avoided, but maybe it's simply a lack of empathy. Whatever the reason, the disconnect jars. The lack of trust between Mitchell and Howe ultimately spelled divorce. When eventually I asked the former whether the manager's instinctive wariness of outsiders meant winning his confidence was hard work, the reply – 'You sound like you know him better than I do' – sounded only half-joking. After that calamitous briefing the manager blanked the sporting director for a fortnight before Eales negotiated a truce that endured to the point where the announcement last Tuesday of Mitchell's impending exit prompted mild surprise. After all this, maybe the Saudis regret allowing the emotional intelligence embodied by Ashworth, now a senior Football Association executive, and Staveley to slip through their fingers.
Khaleej Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Nearly half of UAE consumers feel AI not meeting their customer service expectations
More than half (54 per cent) of UAE consumers say that failing to understand emotional cues is more of an AI trait than human, a study showed. According to research by ServiceNow, the AI platform for business transformation, Despite rapid advancements in AI and its widespread use in customer service, UAE consumers overwhelmingly (at least 68 per cent) prefer to interact with people for customer support. ServiceNow's Consumer Voice Report 2025 surveyed 17,000 adults across 13 countries in EMEA — including 1000 in the UAE — and explores consumer expectations when it comes to AI's role in customer experience (CX). Based on the findings of the research, the perceived lack of AI's general emotional intelligence (EQ) is a critical factor in shaping consumer sentiment in this regard. Fifty one per cent feel agents having a limited understanding of context is more likely to be AI; and an equal number say misunderstanding slang, idioms and informal language is more likely AI. Meanwhile, nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of UAE consumers feel repetitive or scripted responses are more of an AI trait. 'The key takeaway for business leaders is that AI can no longer be just another customer service tool – it has to be an essential partner to the human agent. The future of customer relationships now lies at the intersection of AI and emotional intelligence (EQ). Consumers no longer want AI that just gets the job done; they want AI that understands them,' commented William O'Neill, Area VP, UAE at ServiceNow. High stakes, low trust The report also highlights a clear AI trust gap, particularly for urgent or complex requests. UAE consumers embrace AI for speed and convenience in low-risk/routine tasks — 23 per cent of UAE consumers trust an AI chatbot for scheduling a car service appointment and 24 per cent say they are happy to use an AI chatbot for tracking a lost or delayed package. However, when it comes to more sensitive or urgent tasks, consumer confidence in AI drops. Only 13 per cent would trust AI to dispute a suspicious transaction on their bank account with 43 per cent instead preferring to handle this in-person. Similarly, when it comes to troubleshooting a home internet issue, only 20 per cent of consumers across the Emirates are happy to rely on an AI chatbot, with 50 per cent preferring to troubleshoot the issue with someone on the phone. Humans and AI For all the frustrations with AI — almost half (47 per cent) of UAE consumers say their customer service interactions with AI chatbots have not met their expectations — the research does suggest that consumers consider AI as crucial for organizations looking to deliver exceptional customer experiences. For one, in addition to seamless service (90 per cent), quick response times (89 per cent) and accurate information (88 per cent), more than three quarter (76 per cent) of UAE consumers expect the organizations they deal with to provide a good chatbot service. But perhaps more interestingly, 85 per cent of consumers across the Emirates expect the option for self-service problem solving, which does indicate the need for organizations to integrate AI insights and data analysis into service channels to anticipate customer needs before they arise. 'While AI in customer service is currently falling short of consumer expectations, it is not failing. Rather, it is evolving. There is an opportunity for businesses to refine AI by empowering it with the right information, making it more adaptive, emotionally aware, and seamlessly integrated with human agents to take/recommend the next best action and deliver unparalleled customer relationships,' added O'Neill. 'Consumers do not want less AI – they want AI that works smarter. By understanding the biggest pain points, companies can make AI a trusted ally rather than a frustrating barrier.'
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
How A Balanced Home Life Can Lead To Success At Work
Sharing household chores can help employees manage workplace stress. Back in 2013, when then Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg published her book Lean In, one of the pieces of advice she offered to women setting out on their careers was to choose partners who would be supportive. 'When it comes time to settle down, find someone who wants an equal partner. Someone who thinks women should be smart, opinionated and ambitious. Someone who values fairness and expects or, even better, wants to do his share in the home,' she wrote. It seems this principle holds true regardless of gender. According to recently published research, employees with emotionally intelligent spouses say they have better relationships with their supervisors, are better able to manage their own and others' emotions and have greater psychological resilience at work. The paper published by Anna Carmella Ocampo, a professor at Esade, a global academic institution with campuses in Barcelona and Madrid, was based on work conducted in collaboration with Macquarie University, the University of Alberta, the University of New South Wales, Monash Business School and KPMG. It draws on data from China and the U.S.. The findings challenge the conventional belief that personal life distracts from professional success. 'Spouses act not only as cheerleaders, boosting employees' enthusiasm at work, but also as healers, alleviating their stress and frustration,' said Professor Ocampo in a press release. Researchers carried out in-depth interviews with employees, organized a large-scale survey involving matched spouse-employee-supervisor groups in China and set up a scenario-based experiment in the U.S.. Across all three, the researchers found that the capacity to manage one's own and others' emotions — what is known as emotional regulation ability (ERA) — played a critical role in supporting employees' ability to handle stress, build positive relationships at work and persevere in emotionally demanding situations. In particular, the study published in the Journal of Business Research earlier this year found that employees with spouses who scored highly in ERA reported 'greater psychological capital and more effective emotion management.' These resources were associated with more constructive interactions with supervisors and an increased ability to navigate work challenges. Conversely, when spouses were overwhelmed with household responsibilities, the benefits of their emotional intelligence were less apparent, according to the report. The research also suggests that spousal support enhances employees' own capacity to help others in the workplace. This can make them more valuable team members and help to strengthen the social fabric of their organisations, it adds. In other words, the idea that organizations are best served by employees who maintain their focus on the job and do not share their workplace experiences — good or bad — with their families is open to question. In fact, a committed and supportive partner might be a valuable asset the organization did not know it had. As Professor Ocampo put it: 'Rather than viewing family life as a potential obstacle to workplace performance, employers should embrace policies that acknowledge the benefits of non-work resources. Family-friendly working conditions and equitable sharing of domestic responsibilities are essential to creating the supportive environments that allow employees to thrive.' Or as Sandberg might say, it is not just the employee who needs to lean in, but also their partner. But it would help a lot if employers acknowledged properly the importance of their employees' personal lives.
